do we have the right culture to reach to what extent does
TRANSCRIPT
DISCUSSION
Office of the Superintendent of Schools
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Rockville, Maryland
November 10, 2020
MEMORANDUM
To: Members of the Board of Education
From: Jack R. Smith, Superintendent of Schools
Subject: Reimagination of the Office of Human Resources and Development
Introduction
The Office of Human Resources and Development (OHRD) aims to build credible relationships
with leaders in the organization, and in the community, to ensure that our students benefit from
the staff members who have an impact on their overall educational experience and academic
success. The goal of OHRD is to add tangible value to the district by integrating Human Resources
(HR) into all aspects of strategic planning and business operations. As the experts on the human
aspect of the business, OHRD is best equipped to identify how each employee contributes
to the organization’s goals, and to place each employee in a position to deliver positive results
in service to our students and their academic and social emotional success.
A strategic OHRD will ensure that we have a shared mindset (do we have the right culture to reach
our goals) and a capacity for change (to what extent does our office have the ability to improve
work processes to change and learn). OHRD must leverage its collective internal talent ecosystem
in order to:
● Become a partner with all senior managers in strategic planning around talent spotting,
professional development, retention, and succession planning;
● Become an expert in the way work is organized and executed, delivering an exceptional
customer experience;
● Become an agent of continuous transformation, shaping processes and a culture that
together improve an organization’s capacity for change; and
● Become the leader in talent development, providing innovative, impactful development
for all employees that is managed from one source making it clear, consistent,
and easily accessible.
Members of the Board of Education 2 November 10, 2020
Strategic Priorities and the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) All In: Equity
and Achievement Framework
OHRD is committed to the All Means All approach to student success. In collaboration with
our colleagues across MCPS, the reimagination work aims to address the disparities in student
outcomes by closing gaps in access, opportunity, and achievement for all students, in all of our
classrooms and schools. Explicitly, OHRD will address the dimensions of teaching quality
and school leadership quality that are presented in the MCPS All In: Equity and Achievement
Framework. The impact of the work of OHRD is evident across schools as our recruiting teams
identify new talent, onboard them to the organization, provide scaffolding and support
methodologies, and guide them through effective professional development; all with the goal
of retaining high-quality educators in MCPS.
Teacher Workforce Diversity
The MCPS vision is that students experience a high-quality teacher workforce that reflects
the diversity of the student population. A significant body of literature argues that a match between
the race and ethnicity of teachers and students leads to better student outcomes, particularly
in high-poverty environments with significant at-risk student populations (Ogbu, 1992).
Some researchers argue that teachers of color are more likely to have high expectations for students
of color (Ferguson, 2003).
Teachers of color help close achievement gaps for students of color, particularly in high-poverty
environments, and all students benefit from having teachers of color who bring distinctive
knowledge, experiences, and role modeling to the student body as a whole. Although more teachers
of color are being recruited across the nation, the pace of increase is measured and attrition rates
are high, which is creating growing gaps between the demand for such teachers and the supply.
While the percentage of students of color in public schools is 50 percent, teachers of color make
up only 20 percent of the teacher workforce.
Teacher Hiring and Teacher Quality
By enhancing the role of HR to be even more effective at both thought and business partnership,
and by providing principals with best-practice screening tools, OHRD can work to substantially
increase principals’ abilities to fill teaching positions with the most qualified candidates that
understand and address their students’ needs. OHRD can work collaboratively with principals
in the hiring process and eliminate time-intensive processes that do not support goals of early
hiring. Moreover, we can support school leaders to strategically match novice teachers
and/or experienced teachers with specific vacancies, achieving balanced staffing and diversity
in terms of race as well as experience and content expertise.
Members of the Board of Education 3 November 10, 2020
The Education Resource Strategies (ERS) study, Achieving Excellence and Equity Through
Resource Use, noted that across and within schools, factors drive differences in access to novice
and experienced teachers. Our efforts must address:
● Balance of novice and experienced teachers across schools at the elementary and middle
school levels;
● Balance of novice and experienced teachers within schools at the high school level; and
● Differentiated levels of support for novice teachers to deliver high-quality instruction
and improve their skills over time.
School Leadership Quality
High-quality school leadership aligns with the vision that students who have access to strong
leaders perform better. School leaders play a critical role in instructional leadership, school culture,
and strategic resource use that impacts many aspects of a student’s school experience. As a district,
we must provide high-quality and integrated support to principals to enable them to formulate
strategic school design decisions that best support their vision and priorities.
As a district, we are committed to identifying new talent to the principalship (external
and internal candidates), both novice and experienced. OHRD works in partnership with
the Office of Teaching, Learning, and Schools (OTLS) to:
● Identify aspiring leaders;
● Coordinate recruitment efforts for both the assistant principal and principal pipelines;
● Implement hiring practice processes rooted in research;
● Navigate a transparent and equitable hiring process for all candidates; and
● Provide ongoing professional development, support, and evaluation.
Currently, administrators have an opportunity to express an interest in moving and/or changing
their work location each spring. The directors of learning, achievement, and administration
in OTLS solicit feedback from administrators who may have an interest in pursuing leadership
in a new school. As the district assesses its leadership needs in our highly impacted schools,
we have a unique opportunity to encourage school leaders to consider new opportunities.
The ERS study highlighted that principals may be more willing to change locations if there
is structured support, availability of resources, and opportunities for continued coaching,
mentoring, and professional development.
Part of the reimagination work will include efforts to improve our recruitment and development
opportunities, for both aspiring and current school leaders. We will ensure the support we provide
is integrated and ongoing, with the goal of enabling school leaders to make more strategic decisions
and strengthen their ability to lead. Additionally, we will collaborate with stakeholders to propose
a plan for recruiting and retaining proven effective leaders to work in our highest-needs schools.
Members of the Board of Education 4 November 10, 2020
Strategic Priorities and the Antiracist Audit
The OHRD mission and vision is inextricably tied to the MCPS strategic priorities, specifically
human capital and operational excellence. We need a diverse workforce that is culturally
competent and we want our students to have educators with diverse backgrounds throughout their
academic career in MCPS. When we meet the human capital goals and the effectiveness
and efficiencies of operational excellence, we create the conditions for every student to excel
and every staff member to be successful.
It is important to highlight that the reimagination work also is aligned with the work of the
Antiracist System Audit. Two goals of the audit are to examine how racism affects the lived
experience of people of color and how racism is systemic and can be rooted in institutional
practices and policies. The work of this audit, and our collaboration with staff in the Equity
Initiatives Unit, will inform our OHRD work as well. We know that adjustments
and improvements to our practices will help us achieve the results we seek. Now, more than ever,
considering the global COVID-19 pandemic, an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and
inclusion must underscore our core values as an office. An exciting aspect of leading this work
is the opportunity to engage the community to build external champions to help us move this
work forward.
Reimagination Work
In spring 2020, under the direction of the superintendent of schools and the deputy superintendent,
OHRD began an endeavor to examine current and best practices in human resources in the spirit
of continuous improvement. OHRD knows that the diversity of our educator workforce plays
a pivotal role in ensuring equity in our education system. We are stronger as a school district when
individuals of varied backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives work and learn together;
diversity and inclusion breed innovation.
Our teams in HR engaged a diverse group of employee, student, and community stakeholders
to provide feedback in key focus areas, with the goal of providing a series of recommendations
to inform our work moving forward. A comprehensive timeline and a list of participants
are highlighted in Attachment 1 and Attachment 2, respectively. Equity and excellence are the
underlying and recurring themes in this work.
The four key areas our work groups examined included:
● Talent Acquisition and Recruitment;
● Onboarding and Induction;
● Talent Development; and
● Retention.
Members of the Board of Education 5 November 10, 2020
Acknowledgements
OHRD wishes to sincerely thank our stakeholders for contributing their valuable time
and passionate energy to our work groups. We are grateful for their investment in our work,
and the ways in which this commitment impacts the lives of our students. We acknowledge
and thank our partners:
● 1977-II Action Group;
● African American Student Achievement Action Group;
● Asian Pacific American Student Achievement Action Group;
● Building our Network of Diversity;
● Hispanic Alliance for Education;
● Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals;
● Montgomery County Education Association;
● Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations, Inc.;
● The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and
● Service Employees International Union, Local 500.
OHRD Reimagination Overarching Themes
Several themes that emerged from the conversations in our work groups included the following:
● Human Capital Management is a collaborative effort, and all schools, offices,
and departments have a direct responsibility with the recruitment, onboarding,
development, and retention of staff.
● The need to recruit, onboard, develop, and retain a diverse workforce is rooted in shared
ownership throughout the district.
● Talent development is an integral part of an employee’s identity and longevity.
● Currently, talent development is siloed, fragmented, and inequitable for all employee
groups.
● There is a need for an equitable approach to onboarding, professional development,
and recruitment for the different association groups.
● There is a need for enhanced data collection and analysis to inform and improve HR
responsibilities, from recruitment and talent development, to retention and offboarding.
Talent Acquisition and Recruitment
Talent Acquisition is focused on building ongoing strategies to attract quality talent. Recruitment
means that these strategies are transformed into actionable steps. This process must be thoughtful
and intentional in order to derive maximum value from our activities and initiatives. To recruit
effectively, HR must stay current with new trends, leverage social media, navigate virtual
recruiting spaces, build relationships with candidates, and create goodwill around the potential
of working in MCPS. The following list presents a summary of recommendations.
Members of the Board of Education 6 November 10, 2020
● Implement specific and intentional strategies to recruit for diversity, to include enhancing
and expanding collaboration with Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
Hispanic-Serving Institutions, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities,
affinity groups, interfaith groups, and community organizations. Also consider the
● Redesign of the MCPS Academy to go beyond high school graduation and more effectively
create a pipeline of MCPS students to employees by creating partnerships with higher
education teacher programs and include scholarships, contracts and loan forgiveness upon
graduation.
● Develop and deliver training on unconscious bias in hiring, to be conducted with all hiring
managers.
● Develop a process and protocol to collect data and conduct an audit regularly
on recruitment practices, and develop and implement a preboarding protocol with
a focus on improving the brand. The improved branding will include the development
and use of a MCPS welcome package.
● Enhance Leadership Development to include work with principals to talent spot,
and the building of a pipeline of future administrators by early identification and ongoing
professional development.
● Consider separating the functions of Recruitment and Human Capital Partner.
Onboarding and Induction
MCPS is committed to onboarding and induction experiences that allow our employees
to be effective and efficient in their new jobs. The purpose of delivering robust and comprehensive
onboarding is to assure new hires that we want them to have an exceptional experience as they
enter the organization, and lay the foundation for their career. Our reimagination of onboarding
allows us to create an infrastructure that can be designed to share knowledge, communicate values,
build connections, and transform new hires into highly capable team members. The following list
presents a summary of recommendations.
● Develop and implement an onboarding program that supports employees through their first
year of employment, to include both ongoing interactions and development provided
by OHRD, as well as support and regular check-ins provided at the work site (OHRD,
as the partner, will provide the necessary support to the work site leaders to manage
the onboarding program at the work site).
● Expand on New Educator Orientation (NEO) in content, format, and participants,
to include substitutes, teachers, administrators, and supporting services staff, so that it is
comprehensive and equitable. As part of NEO, host an induction event for all new staff.
● Expand the mentorship program for all new Administrative and Supervisory staff.
Talent Development
Investing in our employees is critical to their engagement and our success as an organization.
Maximizing our investment in our talent means that we help employees thrive, build careers,
Members of the Board of Education 7 November 10, 2020
and remain actively engaged. Talent development traditionally refers to the organizational
HR processes designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees.
We desire to be more focused on the career goals of our employees that align with
our organizational goals. This means that we have to find out what our employees want
to do in the future, and make sure our top performers have a path within our school district
for developing personal and professional career opportunities. The following list presents a
summary of recommendations.
● Manage all professional development from one office and ensure we have a learning
technology platform to support our goals.
● Create an online professional development repository that is self-service and accessible
at all times for all employees.
● Implement leadership development to include central services, support services, and
aspiring teacher leaders, and expand the Studying Skillful Teaching and Leading program.
● Provide specific professional development for staff in high-needs schools, including equity
training for supporting services employees.
● Consider the integration of a comprehensive talent management platform that aligns with
our aspiration to provide the most impactful opportunities for talent development, which
sets up employees to thrive, build careers, and remain actively engaged.
Retention
Managing for employee retention involves strategic actions to keep employees motivated
and focused so they elect to remain employed and fully productive for the benefit of our school
district. A comprehensive employee retention program can play a vital role in both attracting
and retaining key employees, as well as in reducing turnover and the related costs. While attrition
may be considered a natural reduction in the workforce of an organization, we want to ensure that
we have strategies in place to retain our employees and understand why employees choose to leave
MCPS. The following list presents a summary of recommendations.
● Build out the offboarding process to be more comprehensive, including the addition
of an exit survey/interview.
● Create opportunities and support school and work sites to provide ongoing interactions
and development throughout the school year to include focused support for new employees
and educators of color.
● Create a holistic approach to supporting the needs of conditionally certified teachers.
A comprehensive list of all the recommendations of the work groups is attached (Attachment 3).
Members of the Board of Education 8 November 10, 2020
New Work in OHRD: Support Across Schools Efforts
● HR staff engage with principals and all hiring managers to continue to learn about
the instructional needs of their schools, and to discuss their staff profile to determine
characteristics of teachers that support the learning needs of students and the school
community.
● We are extending our reimagination of OHRD to smaller work groups, to ensure
collaboration on practices with how best to support high-needs schools (elementary
school: 50 percent or greater Free and Reduced-price Meals System services rate
[FARMS]; middle school: 45 percent or greater FARMS services rate; and high school:
40 percent or greater FARMS services rate), with analyzing, assessing, hiring, organizing,
and assigning their human capital throughout the school year and during the hiring season.
These smaller work groups will be conducted collaboratively with OTLS to inform hiring
practices for this coming season.
● Earlier hiring opportunities will be made available to these schools. This will be a time
when only internal MCPS teachers can be interviewed and hired.
● Working collaboratively with OTLS and our association colleagues to develop a coaching
conversation framework to examine how we speak to our principals about the potential
and options of having a differentiated experience, and how they will be supported in that
transition. The recruiting process includes helping veteran principals see themselves
in new roles and new environments and making a commitment to help these leaders
become and stay successful.
● Developing processes for offboarding and exit surveys.
● Designing training modules that address unconscious bias in hiring practices.
● Creating new interviewing protocols and questions that are rooted in equity practice.
● New Educator Orientation 2.0 and 3.0, creating multiple touch points for our new teachers.
Conclusion
These recommendations will become part of our continuous improvement planning in OHRD.
The efforts will serve to inform our work moving forward, with the ultimate goal of improving
our practices and strategies to attract, recruit, retain, develop, and invest in our workforce so that
our students reap the rewards of an engaged and productive staff. We will provide an update
on the progress of our intentional actions in February 2021, prior to moving into the height
of the hiring season.
JRS:MBM:HAN:pbr
Attachments
Attachment 1
Reimagination of the Office of Human Resources and Development
Work Group Meeting Dates and Times
Work Group Members from SEIU
Talent Acquisition/Recruitment
Onboarding/Induction Talent Development Retention
● Nathalie Bourdereau, OHRD
● Joy Lee, OFSE ● Kimilie Ellison, SPO
● Henrietta Jenkins, OCTO
● Tracy Umali, OHRD ● Abby Reyes Salazar,
DOT ● Laurie Lyons, DOM
● Victor Santiago, OHRD
● Joy Lee, OFSE ● Sam Ward, OHRD
● Betsy Povtak, OHRD
● Abby Reyes Salazar, OHRD
Frequency of Meetings
Meeting Dates Talent Acquisition/Recruitment
Onboarding/Induction Talent Development
Retention
Meeting #1 June 2 June 9 June 4 June 5
Meeting #2 June 23 June 22 June 24 June 24
Meeting #3 July 7 July 12 July 8 July 9
Meeting #4 July 21 July 22 July 23 July 23
Meeting #5 August 3 August 4 August 5 August 5
Meeting #6 September 8 September 14 September 10 September 16
Meeting #7 September 22 September 23 September 24 September 25
Final Meeting All OHRD Reimagining Work Groups meet on September 29. Work Group members will share recommendations.
2
Reimagination of the Office of Human Resources and Development
Work Group Meeting Dates and Times
Specialty Groups/Big Topics
OHRD Reimagining Work Groups Specialty Groups/Big Topics
Talent Acquisition/Recruitment ● Benchmark with Comparable School Districts ● MCPS students to employees ● Recruitment efforts to diversify the teaching workforce ● Recruitment efforts to diversify the supporting services
workforce ● Recruitment efforts to diversify the administrator workforce ● Surveys for employees who did not join MCPS
Onboarding/Induction ● Benchmark with Comparable School Districts
● Onboarding and Induction efforts to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our diverse staff.
Talent Development ● Benchmark with Comparable School Districts ● Availability, capacity, and options for targeted professional
development
● Impact of professional development on all staff
Retention ● Benchmark with Comparable School Districts ● Employee recognition ● Surveys for employees who leave MCPS ● Surveys for employees who were recently onboarded to MCPS ● Incentives, support, and professional development
opportunities for staff in high impact schools ● Professional development opportunities that are focused on
equity and employee growth ● Support structure for employees of color
3
Reimagination of the Office of Human Resources and Development
Work Group Meeting Dates and Times
The Reimagining of the Office of Human Resources and Development Timeline
Date/Timeframe Activity
Week of September 7 and Week of September 14, 2020
Meeting Six for the four OHRD Reimagining Work Groups
Week of September 14, 2020 OHRD Office Meeting. This meeting will be used to update the office on the reimagining, share the workgroup’s activity, and provide feedback.
September 15, 2020 Meeting with SEIU’s president and executive director.
Week of September 21, 2020 Meeting Seven for the four OHRD Reimagining Workgroups (final meeting for individual work groups). All recommendations are due.
September 25, 2020 Meeting with MCAAP’s president and executive director.
September 28, 2020 11:00- 2:00
Combined OHRD Reimagining Work Group Meeting
September 30, 2020 Meeting with MCEA’s president and executive director.
October 12, 2020 Final recommendations shared with the Deputy’s Superintendent's Advisory Group
October 2020 OHRD Office Meeting. This meeting will be used to update the office on the reimagining, share the work group’s activity, and gain feedback.
November 2020 OHRD Office Meeting. This meeting will be used to share recommendations and gain final feedback.
November 10, 2020 Board of Education Meeting-- Final recommendations are shared to include structures, processes, programs as well as organizational structure of the office.
November 11- 13, 2020 OHRD Office Meeting. These meetings will be used to discuss the presentation to the Board, provide more specific details about the reimagining of the office and gain additional input about transition, implementation, etc.
Attachment 2
REIMAGINATION OF THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
WORK GROUP PARTICIPANTS Talent Acquisition/Recruitment Onboarding/Induction Talent Development Retention
Nathalie Bourdereau (SEIU/OHRD)
Henrietta Jenkins (OCTO/SEIU)
Deann Collins (MCAAP/ OSSI)
Betsy Povtak (SEIU/OHRD)
Joy Lee (APASAAG/ SEIU)
Ting Mei Chau (APASAAG)
Victor Santiago (SEIU/OHRD)
Adam Lee (APASAAG)
Anita Chan (APASAAG/MCAAP)
Adam Lee (APASAAG)
Joy Lee (APASAAG/ SEIU)
Ting Mei Chan (APASAAG)
Lucy Hayes (1977-II Action Group)
Lisa Cline (MCCPTA)
Anita Chan (APASAAG/ MCAAP)
Sheila Stewart (MCCPTA)
Laura Mitchell (MCCPTA)
Shannon Sisco (NAACP)
Sandy Smith (NAACP)
Stacy Ganz Kahn (MCCPTA)
Debby Orsak (MCCPTA)
Chelsea Hughes (NAACP)
Shahid Muhammad (MCAAP)
Wylea Chase (NAACP)
Mark Eckstein (MCCPTA)
Jennifer Martin (MCEA/OHRD)
Anne Dardarian (MCAAP/OHRD)
Anne Dardarian (MCAAP/OHRD)
Jennifer Martin (MCEA/OHRD)
Tracy Umali (SEIU/OHRD)
Serenity Moore (MCEA/OHRD)
Carolina Garcia-Ablanque
(MCAAP/OHRD)
Carolina_Z_Garcia-
Ryan Forkert (MCAAP)
Nickie Wallace (MCEA/OHRD)
Marie Bercaw (MCAAP/OHRD)
David Chia (MCAAP/OHRD)
Wanda Coates (MCAAP)
Jeff Cline (MCAAP)
Sam Ward (SEIU/OHRD)
Kisha Logan (MCAAP)
Sydney Pinkard (MCEA/OHRD)
Doug Robbins (MCAAP)
Klaire Marino (FEAT)
Gail Upchurch (AASAAG)
Tiffany Goodson (MCAAP/OHRD)
Jacob (Jake) Lee (MCAAP)
Andrew Bradshaw (OSSI/ MCEA)
Julia Elam (AASAAG)
Christy Welsh (DPGS/OHRD)
Brenda Lewis (OCIP/MCAAP)
Jenna Landy (OSSI/MCEA)
Joanna Dwin (OSSI/ MCEA)
Kimilie Ellison (SPO/ SEIU)
Betty Collins (1977-II) Vivian Aoun (MCEA)
Tom Chapman (OCTO)
2 Updated 10/9/2020
REIMAGINATION OF THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
WORK GROUP PARTICIPANTS
Talent Acquisition/Recruitment Onboarding/Induction Talent Development Retention
Tamisha Sampson (OCIP/MCAAP)
Daryl Howard (BOND/MCEA)
Chris Love (MCEA)
Miriam Plotinsky (MCEA)
Chuck McGee (OCTO/MCAAP)
Tracie Potts
Jeff Mehr (OSSI/MCEA)
Rodney Harrison (BOND/MCEA)
Porsche Vanderhorst (MCAAP)
Porsche_S_ [email protected]
Abby Reyes-Salazar (DOT/SEIU)
Abigail_J_Reyes-
Daman Harris (BOND/MCAAP)
Daman_L_Harris @mcpsmd.org
Everett Davis
Desmond Mackall (BOND/MCAAP)
Laurie Lyons (DOM/ SEIU)
Elissa Andrade (MCEA/ OHRD)
Abby Reyes-Salazar (DOT/SEIU) [email protected]
Saba Ahmed
Natalie Thomas (1977-II)- NO
LONGER IN 1977-II
Vernon Ricks (1977-II)
Miriam Plotinsky (MCEA)
Attachment 3
REIMAGINATION OF THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
COMPREHENISVE RECOMMENDATIONS LIST
Talent Acquisition and Recruitment
• Clear, cohesive PR/branding of MCPS as a diverse and inclusive employer—prove the strength
of the brand—intentionally highlight learning and achievement student data across
all backgrounds (subgroups)
• Talking points, promotional materials (print and/or electronic) disseminated to HR
Ambassadors so that they can informally recruit, as appropriate, in professional and networking
events they attend outside of formal MCPS recruitment events
• Recruit in nontraditional spaces—community events, religious, military, specific industries,
etc.
• Introduce an employee referral program
• Explore opportunities for MCPS Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
• Employee alumni recruitment at college/university recruitment events with follow-up after
events—by the alumni
• Monitor accuracy, consistency with language, and clarity of job postings to minimize candidate
confusion
• Expand the support and entry options into the teaching profession, creating multiple pathways
for potential candidates to earn initial certification
• Review support professional job descriptions to include more work experience versus
education requirements to meet the organizational needs of the district and the future of work
• Market/advertise in non-traditional job search websites
• Allow incentives for support professionals who have additional certifications, credits, degrees
to align with the teacher step/grade salary system
• Make certification process opportunities accessible for SEIU within MCPS as part of career
path encouragement
• Design a leadership cohort specifically for diverse employees and/or embed more diversity
training in the current leadership cohort
• More holistic branding to external candidates to communicate that we are an inclusive,
equity-focused organization
• Make the hiring process and selection criteria more transparent by providing the completed
screening rubric to applicants
• Assure that support professional training development programs are including layers
of diversity training consistently
• Create a recruitment and retention team in the Department of Certification and Staffing whose
job is to recruit diverse support professionals and create retention and recognition programs
for support professionals
• Create a pathway to the trade program to help retain diverse staff who are interested in growing
their career in MCPS and interested in management level positions
• Develop more cross-training programs to provide employees with the opportunity to learn
from one another in both developing hard and soft skills and connecting and learning from
employees from different backgrounds and cultures
• Expand the scope of the current mentoring program
2
Onboarding and Induction
• Review survey given to new employees hired by MCPS
• Expand questions on survey to new employees to include questions regarding attractiveness
to MCPS in regard to diversity of system, professional development opportunities, and what
attracted employees to the county
• Review survey given to employees who elected not to join MCPS
• Expand questions to include additional areas for why potential employees might choose
not to take a position with MCPS (including questions around the hiring process, incentives
for employment, the hiring process, and questions related to diversity within our school system)
• Examine survey questions for why potential employees did take a position with MCPS
and expand drop-down menu of questions to include short answer responses
• Expedite timeliness of sending out the survey to candidates to ensure more responses
are provided.
• Expand NEO for school-based versus non-school-based staff needs—tailor information
to fit the staff member beyond initial benefits, HR, regulations information
• Increase communication from all levels on the MCPS Mission & Vision for a clear systemwide
message
• Where Do I Fit—broaden information on MCPS structure and the impact of all work
on students
• Increase outreach: follow-up with new staff 2 to 4 months after NEO but before permanent
status and then after that for the first full year
• Gather feedback/use surveys to identify trends where staff are successful or feeling
challenged—how is it going? Gather information quarterly or twice/year
• Survey the NEO process; what did we miss that would have been helpful?
• Offer peer mentoring/shadowing opportunities (similar to CTs for professional staff) so all staff
have an experienced POC for questions, concerns, and learning to improve comfort,
confidence, and success
• Identify training and learning opportunities that benefit new employees beyond their first
month
• Create MCPS Welcome! package (bag, t-shirt, sticky notes, pen, critical system information,
etc.). Celebrate their arrival!
• Put something in place as a continuation of PD from NEO. NEO Spring Followup Session
(CCS). They could not only learn about what they are doing well but also have a temperature/
pulse taken at that time while having the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues
• Cluster Onboarding Academy: SDTs, RTs, Instructional in-house school supports
for new-to- MCPS staff differentiated for those new to teaching and those who come in with
experience
• First-year teacher cohort meetings required at each school (new to MCPS included
in appropriate topics)
• Increase in mentor program
• Provide a robust and practical introduction to effective family engagement understanding that
part of your role as a MCPS employee at the MCEA level is to engage with the community
beyond the classroom
3
Talent Development
• To enhance and provide explicit training to administrators on cultural proficiency and equity
that is pervasively approached
• How does our diverse workforce compare to our diverse enrollment numbers? How are these
employees distributed throughout the system?
• To provide further training for administrators to help them specialize in areas outside
of the current placement (training on Title I, immersion, center programs, cross-level)
• Training for administrators on various issues involving effective communication, family
engagement, and negotiating through challenges
• Public relations skills are vital to the effectiveness of an administrator and this is an area that
we are not sure is covered in AP1, 2 or intern years
• To develop virtual and on-site training opportunities that do not consume the entire day,
prioritizing time for new administrators to spend time with their students and staff
• How can MCAAP/MCBOA support the process in supporting administrators with the issues
described above?
• Should the learning progression be developed as a multi-year plan with periodic benchmarks
to ensure progress toward our systemwide goals? How would the LP be monitored?
• What questions do we need answered in an audit of PD? Who would be responsible
for designing and conducting the audit?
• Who would serve on the cross functional/office Districtwide Learning Progression Steering
Committee and what would be the roles and responsibilities of the team? How would this team
support the design teams?
• Create one professional learning evaluation form that can be used to collect data
on effectiveness of all professional learning opportunities that are posted on PDO
• Utilize data from professional learning evaluation forms to inform and elevate future
professional learning opportunities
• Utilize school data to create and facilitate professional learning experiences for school staff
based upon area of need
• Utilize student voice data to drive professional learning experiences for teachers
• Examine feedback/evaluation from participants in Future Administrators Workshops,
Leadership Development Program, elementary/secondary PLCs
• Collect and present data related to promotions from MCEA, administrators’ roles, development
from school-based to central services positions
• Provide professional development specifically targeted to administrators (coaching, leadership,
equity, SEL, anti-racism). Perhaps there could be a menu of choices within a platform such
as PDO
• Graduated levels of professional learning opportunities that encompass particular categories
(e.g., anti-racist leadership 100/200/300, instructional leadership 100/200/300, data analysis,
community leadership)
• Partnering with universities to develop leadership beyond the A&S program, perhaps
certificated cohort model
• Create a clear strategic/content framework or continuum related to professional learning
in different roles (e.g., school based vs. central services based)
• Implement “instructional rounds” where groups of administrators could visit a school
and either work on a problem of practice at that school or hear about solutions to a problem
of practice, similar to a teachers’ lesson study group
• Record and store a bank of professional learning trainings on various topics.
4
Retention
• Remind supervisors/administrators of the importance of employee recognition in employee
morale and retention. Remember that recognition can be as simple as a note in the employee’s
mailbox or specific feedback on an observed moment. Recognition “Begins at home, as in your
school or office”
• Infuse this information in trainings, reminders from MCAAP/MCBOA, tip sheets
on supervision, etc.
• Provide ideas on how to recognize staff in The Bulletin, trainings, staff meetings. Some ideas
include a recognition bulletin board where staff post shout outs to peers, nominating
an employee of the month with a prize or award that is passed on, provide certificates
to employees who have gone above and beyond during the month
• Advertise systemwide awards, such as ABCD award in The Bulletin
• Use exit interviews and climate surveys to monitor whether employees feel recognized
and how this has affected their morale or decision to leave MCPS
• Increase local decision making for instructional and programmatic considerations
• Provide additional technology resources for school community members
• Designate additional resources to be used for inviting family participation and involvement
(i.e., home visits from pupil personnel workers or parent community coordinators)
• Strengthen current employee groups (LEAAP, BOND, MCABSE, HAE, etc.)
• To encourage current employee groups to systematically develop mentorship and support
programs (such as improve current skills, etc.)
• Each group to receive continuous support from the school system (such as meeting rooms,
guest speakers, etc.)
• To recruit employees of color to loop onto new positions (such as managerial or administrative
positions, etc.)
• Develop and strengthen PDO and University Partnerships
• Encourage more employees to use development programs
• Sharing information broadly to all employees, including diversity and inclusion programs
• Develop Community Partnerships
• Community group supports to enhance remote thinking in the current environment
• Community group resources on skills like public relationships, negotiation, to help school staff
and administration to communicate with parents/guardians
• To seek external findings to strengthen diversity and inclusion among all employees.